Survival
by Cap'n Chryssalid
Summary: My brief take on the classic Tailsgonebad genre. After a devastating attack, Miles Prower learns that duty, honor and sacrifice... are concepts as broken and useless as his legs.


This is something that came to mind a few days ago, in between working on my work related projects and absently rereading and thinking over the a quasi-RPG Round Robin I ran over ICQ a while back and the (totally unrelated) AU New-Sonic Fanfic Project I have in the works. It's just sort of a mix of things that came to mind, heaped into something else altogether. Hell, most people can disregard what I just said up here anyway. What's more important for the general reader is that this 'little' One Shot isn't to be taken too seriously. I've taken a few liberties with the source material and twisted them to suit my fancy. Plus, this is a quickie for me. I wrote this in the span of really only a day and a half.

And so: behold. Tails.

Being not his normal self.

Disclaimers a' plenty: Alright people, you know the drill. Sonic The Hedgehog and all related properties are owned my SEGA of America, Archie Comic, DiC and God knows how many others. This story is just for fun. So, don't get all wound up about it. Any original characters are owned by me, unless otherwise stated. If you can help it, don't print this baby out, or sell it, DO NOT modify it, or do any of that crazy stuff. That's not cool. Don't go there. If ya want to use one of my characters, or any of that, you all know the score- gimme a call, an email, whatever. Just let me know, right?

* * *

"Survival"

The air tasted stale.

Despite the presence of a fan, circulating the air, and an oxygen recycling system among the best on the planet, it still tasted stale. It was not some tangible smell that could be analyzed, and a solution drawn up. No: there was something ethereal about this atmosphere. There had been for far too long. And no matter how recycled the air, no matter how perfect the mechanics of the system, or how pure the filtration, it would never taste, never smell, like it did in his youth.

Licking dry lips, Miles Prower slowly crossed the room.

Nothing had tasted the same. Nothing smelt the same. Nothing had been the same. But soon it would be. Soon everything would be... perfect. The thought brought a smile to his face. He would set things right. It was his destiny, after all.

It was what he deserved.

"I have... earned this..." With purpose and fire in his eyes, he gripped the wheels of his chair tightly and rolled ever forward. The gaping maw of his creation awaited him. The room was soundproof, but one of the few things Miles still had was his hearing. He heard them, just barely, trying to get in. Trying to stop him. As if paltry creatures, which could not save themselves, had any business dooming him along with them.

They were too late.

They always had been. Still, it saddened him a twinge to know that he had miscalculated the time it would take for them to reach his laboratory. But, in the end, it was no real matter. Little concern. Pausing, near his destination, the two tailed fox sighed, a white-gloved hand massaging his forehead.

"It... it is getting louder. Fiona." He frowned: smile long gone. "I would like some music. Something... something..."

A second later a strong choral theme came rushing down on him from all around, sounding from speakers in the very walls themselves. Building on a deep bass rumble, and rising to a thunderous height, it filled him with power and confidence. Miles inhaled deeply. "Yes. Yes... thank you, Fiona. Much better."

With resolution, he pushed himself up, slowly at first, out of the wheelchair and onto shaky legs. Instantly, the fox grimaced, eyes narrowing in a mixture of pain and anger. It took a few seconds to even steady himself, and to his side, his tails, once majestic and proud, flopped lifelessly to the ground.

"Would you like a cane, Miles?"

"I... I think I would." He held out his hand, and watched his most loyal servant approach. She handed him his favorite cane, carved of forest oak, and capped by a tip of white bone. Holding the end, he steadied himself and smirked, the grip on it reassuring, bringing back a rare and pleasant memory of the near past. He was strong! In time, he would regain all that had been lost.

"Fiona." He addressed the female fox. She looked at him questioningly, waiting for his orders. Eyes unreadable, he took off the glove on his left hand and stroked her cheek slowly, as if testing the texture and feeling of the fur. "Fiona... I have one last thing to ask of you."

She blinked. "Yes?"

"They are coming." He didn't frown. It did not disturb him. Not at this point in the game. "Stop them when they break through the door. Stop them from interrupting the process. Let nothing interfere in the process."

"Should I kill them?"

Miles seemed to hesitate before answering. "I leave that to you, my most loyal... most loving... automaton."

Taking off his other glove, he put both in her hands, and stepped up and into the mouth of the chamber. Activated by the pressure of his feet, by his weight, and by his presence, metal doors closed behind him, and magnetically sealed with a sharp hiss. Like an awakening dragon, the machine started to roar to life, and pulse with power. Only seconds later, on the opposite end of the lab, the door finally gave way, and blew off its hinges.

"Tails?" A chorus of voices asked, as they stormed in. "Tails?!"

Fiona took a step to the side, and her eyes began to glow. Miles, of all animals, should have known what her choice would be. What her decision simply had to be.

Her programming defaulted to **Kill**.

* * *

He stumbled back, holding his cheek. Sensitive ears heard the money fall to the ground, like drops of metal rain. Squinting one eye closed, he kept his footing, staring at his oppressors. He willed calm to return to him, to fill him with peace, and to silence the cry for revenge.

"Da... damn you..." He hissed, the only curse word he knew.

"I told you guys he had money." One of them smirked cruelly. The enemy. His enemy. His people. "This freak's always good for a little shake down."

"That's my... my lunch money..." Tails slowly lowered his hand from his bruised face. He charged the older child; fist held back, ready to strike. "I... I won't let you take it! I won't let you!"

Bolstered by his rage, emboldened by the surprise in the older boy's eyes, Tails fist strike true, sending a spray of spit and a bit of blood into the air. Every day they did this! Every day he was their prey! Every day!

"NO MORE!" He yelled, distantly. Again and again, he struck, before the other boy's friends were upon him. "NO MORE!!"

* * *

"I'm very disappointed in you Miles."

Failure.

"What were you thinking, Miles?"

Anger.

"Get out, Miles! ... Get out!"

Pain.

* * *

He smiled, wincing only a fraction at the smell of alcohol in his mother's breath. She was not a strong animal. She never had been. He barely moved more than a few inches when she walked up to him and pushed him out of the room, half covering herself with a blanket from the bed. It was enough, though. Enough room gained for her to close the door on him, and lock it this time.

"Who was that?" A male voice asked, sounding surprised.

"Nothing. No one." She said from behind the door. "Where were we?"

Humiliation.

* * *

"What's wrong with him, doctor?"

Not normal?

"Its your fault!"

My fault?

"Your fault he left me!"

My fault.

"... your father..."

Father.

"Miles!"

Miles.

"MILES!!"

Miles.

"HELP ME, MILES!!"

Help them.

"WALKERS! HELP ME!!"

* * *

"Help you?" He asked.

And smiled. They were dragged off, one by one, right in front of him. They came from above, from outside, from everywhere. There was Fear in the eyes of the older boys, as steel hands and claws tore the weapons from their hands, and beat them into submission. There were screams from the women as nets ensnared them. All the children, all the little ones like him, ran and cried and howled and begged...

He just smiled.

And then they were gone.

Such speed. Untouchable speed. He, too, had not been caught. Only he had come back. Miles watched him run, watched him move, every motion of his feet, every gesture of his hands, every detail in his eyes. He wasn't afraid, and there was no Fear. He wasn't weak, and did not Scream. What was this creature?

"Who are you?"

What are you?

Why are you...?

"Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."

"I am..."

Nothing.

Nobody.

Freak.

FREAK!

"Call me Tails."

* * *

Light blue eyes, orbs of light and hope he would recognize anywhere. They belonged to Sally - to Alicia Acorn. Memories of soft kisses to the forehead, of being held gently, of being... of simply being... A sharp pang of pleasure, of happiness, and then he remembered the pain, the anger, the jealousy, the hate, the fear, the humiliation...

"Tails... are you crying, Tails?"

I want to help, Aunt Sally.

"You'll be fine." A reassuring smile. "You're growing bigger every day, Tails."

I want to help, Sally.

"Sonic and I are going out on an important mission. I need you to watch the base, ok?"

I want to help!

"Are you ok?"

I'm not a failure!

"Tails, I'm worried about you."

I'm NOT WEAK!!

"Tails..."

I'M NOT A CHILD!!

"Tails..."

I WANT TO HELP!!

"Tails! Oh Walkers! Tails!!"

"Sally... " Wetness in his eyes, a symptom of Fear. Weakness in his stomach, a prelude to Screams. "Aunt Sally..."

Weak.

"Aunt Sally..." The image of her became blurry, because hazy. "I can't feel my legs... why can't I feel my legs...?"

* * *

"How are things going, Tails?"

"Oh, hi Amy." He smiled. "I'm fine. Really."

"Do ya'll need any help?"

"Quite alright, Aunt Bunnie." He smiled. "That's ok."

"You look... great!"

He laughed. "Thanks, Sonic!"

"Let me get that for you."

"If you want to, Knuckles."

He smiled.

He seethed.

* * *

Miles rolled into wooden shack. Looking around, dark eyes scanned the dimensions, checked and double-checked the mental floor plan he had developed. Like a series of snap shots in his mind, he saw it when he'd first found it. He saw the others, moving around like a blur, at his direction. Moving his things in.

He saw himself on a long forgotten beach, the Sea Fox anchored nearby.

A cripple and a broken robot.

She was just as he had left her.

Back to the lab. Back to his work. He smiled when Rotor came up and asked for his help fixing the fresh water filtration systems. He made jokes when he asked the Knothole doctors if they needed help on any of their equipment. It was a win-win scenario. They got what they wanted from him, and he learned all he needed from them.

He saw Sonic run by, on his way out. An adventure. Tails remembered those. He remembered the wind in his hair, the freedom of flight, and the exhilaration of the race. Oh, how the memories of those races haunted his dreams! Azure Lake... Tails had almost won that one. With it came more memories of the lost past.

Robotnick.

Croc.

Athair.

Metal Sonic.

Shadow.

Another sharp pain shattered his consciousness, and his mind reversed course. That was Tails' past. Tails was dead. He saw instead the shattered and tortured city of Robotropolis. He moved at night, he moved through the shadows. He remembered, so vividly it hurt, finding that first nearly intact hover-egg that Robonick had discarded. The good doctor rode around in them all the time, and never seemed to want for lack of them. He had obviously long since stopped caring where he dumped them. He had forgotten.

Miles had remembered.

* * *

"You want what?" She had asked.

"Just keep an eye out for one next time you're in the city, Aunt Sally."

"Huh? Well, ok. What's it look like?"

"Like a yellow and blue motor. I'd really like to get my hands on, oh... ten or twelve of them? Thanks, Sonic."

"Tails... you..."

He chuckled softly. "Are these all the pieces you could find, Knuckles?"

"It wasn't easy getting my hands on one of these."

"I can only imagine." He gave Rouge a warm smile. Rolling over to a nearby desk, he reached out and opened one of the drawers. A second later, he had a wad of bills in his hand. Without preamble, he put them down on the desk, next to a few papers piled neatly nearby. The female bat put down the small black case she had been holding, and smiled.

Slowly, a gleam came to her eye, and she looked at him wryly. "This is good and all..."

"But?" Miles prompted, still smiling.

"But..." Rouge looked at him, and he saw her eyes trail down past his upper body, to that which was confined to a chair for the rest of his natural life. For a second, she almost seemed to regret what she was thinking. But, a moment later, she picked up where she nearly left off. "But... I think I should get a little extra. A bonus."

"A bonus?" He asked.

"For keeping quiet."

Miles smile widened. "I'm not keeping any secrets. Sally knows what I'm doing. Where do you think I'm getting the money?"

Rogue went back to looking at her payment.

"You know how much I appreciate all the help..." A faint glimmer of an emotion other than polite contentment came and went in a heartbeat. "But if you want to stop, I understand..."

"No." Rouge looked at him and smiled back, her eyes as trusting as they probably got. "That's ok. Do you need anything else?"

He chuckled softly. "Well... Now that you mention it..."

* * *

He grimaced, eyes closed for a second. For only a second, Fear crept into his heart, and then his thumb depressed the end of the syringe, and it was too late. The powerful chemical flowed through his veins, pulsed in time with his heart, and brought a savage snarl to his lips. Body shaking, he gritted his teeth, as the convulsions started, building up from minor tremors to mind numbing tidal waves.

Pain assailed him.

But there was no Fear. No Screams.

No Weakness.

* * *

"Drugs?" His eyebrows raised a fraction in surprise. "I wouldn't call them that. Performance Enhancers, yes. Dietary Supplements, yes. But not drugs. I would never make drugs."

He smiled, convincingly. "Never."

"I have what you're looking for, Nic. But it isn't going to be easy to install. Modifications like you're asking for aren't exactly... child's play... As for your brother, Nack... No. No I haven't seen him in some time."

He smiled, perfectly. "I'm sure he's fine wherever he is."

The room sparked with an unearthly glow. Outside, the glitter and sparkle of the Zone barely shone through the one thick glass window. Miles wheeled himself closer to the center of the room. Closer to his prey. Distantly watching himself, he realized this was just the other day... Only a few months ago...

"I can see that your roboticization was only ... skin deep, so to speak." Miles looked up from the folded notes on his lap. "Do you want to know what is going to happen to you?"

The figure tried to speak, but a gag prevented the words from forming.

"I suppose you do. I suppose you would." He wheeled himself a little closer. "In fact, it is all rather ironic, actually. As we speak, Fiona here is prepping you for surgery."

"Exploratory surgery." He smiled, honestly.

Snively Screamed, and struggled against his restraints, but, despite the desperation and panic in his eyes, it availed him nothing. Miles only shook his head, remembering the futility of it all. But it was no less than he expected. The urge to survive, and endless drive to outlive other life, demanded no less, even from the most spineless worm in the darkest pit of mud. This alone he had learned. This alone was the truth of existence. Painfully standing, he adjusted the table to the horizontal and slowly put on a pair of plastic gloves.

"Fiona. Begin recording. ... First, we will need to open the rib cage. I will need a laser scalpel." He held out a free hand, and closed it around the instrument the moment it rested on his palm. "And all the King's horses... and all the King's men... won't be able to put you back together again..."

* * *

The pain comes in waves. Along with it are various states of consciousness. I fight to hold on... let my anger, my rage, pull me through. I see myself: Miles Prower. Tails. Synonymous, as we once were. I see a boy, I see a cripple, I see an eager youth, I see a bitter animal, cut down in the prime of his youth. I see Sonic - always my hero. Always my savior. Always one step in front of me.

Father.

No. He is no father to me.

Mentor.

No. He is no mentor.

I am not Sonic the Hedgehog.

I am not Tails.

I am Miles Prower.

I see his enemies, my enemies... the enemies of my race. The enemies of a people that hate and fear me, and who are hated and loathed in turn, but who I, through others, are sworn to defend. Robotnik looms, eating into my life, threatening to kill me, and finally... burning away my soul, like my lower back, into chips of dust and ash. I see the doom of these... people... of which I am a part. I see Mobius in flames.

And I'm back on the old Death Egg, lost in a maze of corridors, Sonic no longer in sight. I'm covered in oil and blood, alone for one of the few times since we two set out on this mission. I feel the rage and the hate, the loathing and the pain of abandonment, of abuse, of Fear and Disgust and Power, jet up from the depths of my heart. I watch, as I tear apart everything I can get my hands on, tears streaming down my cheeks, howling to the heavens as explosions rock the space station...

And I'm watching, as Sonic collects the chaos emeralds. Watching, a smile on my face, and a heart full of envy. The power of the emeralds calls to me, like a chorus of angels, drowning out every other thought. Every notion of nobility. Every notion of camaraderie. Somehow, I hold it all back; hide it behind a warm smile, and watch. Sonic transforms, and my eyes widen.

Because that could have been me.

Because... it should have been me...

And I'm floating in the air. Finally: a taste of power! Of true power! Of the power destined for the Chosen One! The power of CHAOS flows through me, sufficing every pore and hair. This is... the height of my life... the pinnacle of my existence. Everything, everything, after that moment was just an attempt to regain the power I had that day. The power I wielded in the fight against Mammoth Mogul.

"Sally!"

And I'm here, again. Where I least want to be.

"SALLY!!"

Where everything changed, for a third time.

"SALLY!! LOOK OUT!!"

Where Tails died.

I feel a sharp pain, piercing my midriff. I feel a bolt of fire cutting into soft flesh, cutting to the core, destroying bone and muscle and nerve. I feel the ground hit me like a sledgehammer, and hear her scream, followed by the shouts of so many others, it seems every star in the sky is screaming. I'm screaming. I'm crying. I'm afraid. And I look up into those blue eyes of hers, and I try to move, but my body... my body is broken...

"Tails! Oh Walkers! Tails!!"

"Sally... " Tails reached for her. Need her. "Aunt Sally..." He cries, because he's dying. Because Tails cannot survive this. Because Tails cannot survive this sort of world. This sort of life.

"Aunt Sally...I can't feel my legs..." Hot tears fell on my face, soaking my fur. "Why can't I feel my legs... Aunt Sally...?"

"Tails..." She held him, muttering blind reassurances and half truths, and in her arms, in the one place where he found peace... Tails died.

And Miles Prower was reborn.

I see the truth, in his death. I see that the only absolute, the only scientific constant, is power. Power through oneself, power through others, power from magic or ability or science... it didn't matter. He who had power became the hero, became the villain, became anything... anything more than mere fodder.

An edge.

Power.

Over the years, as Tails he had traveled more than halfway around the world. But, in reality, he had never left the one place he called home. Never left the safe confines of his smile. No number of miles, no distances crossed or landmasses mapped, not even in the depths of space... he could never run or jump or swim or fly his way out of the cage of his mind and the shadow of his hero.

"I'm very disappointed in you Miles."

"Your fault he left me!"

"Miles!"

"What were you thinking, Miles?"

"Get out, Miles! ... Get out!"

"Who was that?"

"MILES!!"

"Nothing. No one... Where were we?"

"What's wrong with him, doctor?"

"HELP ME, MILES!!"

"Its your fault!"

"... your father..."

"WALKERS! HELP ME!!"

"Tails! Don't die... please... please don't die... Don't...!"

* * *

"You are weak!" A great shape loomed over him, metal gauntlet clenched at his side. "Look at you! A pathetic animal... Do you think any of you will survive this? Every victory... was fleeting. Every defeat... bringing you closer and closer to extinction!"

"Get out of my head!" Miles stood, and lunged at the shadowed figure.

"Fool!" The shadow swiftly faded and reformed behind the young fox. "I am eternal! Even if I were to die, another would take my place! The world is no place for the weak to play at being strong!"

Head in his hands, Miles fell to his knees. Blinking, he saw his own corpse in front of him, lifeless eyes staring mutely upwards to the heavens. Touching that face, his face, but not... he felt his legs give out, and he fell forward, face first into the ground.

"Who are you?" The voice asked. "Who do you think you are? And what are you going to do about it?"

"You... you don't have to ask me..." Miles forced himself up, a snarl pulling back his lips. He looked down at the once lifeless body of Tails, and saw that he was breathing, slowly but steadily. Eyes narrowing, Miles felt his whole body shake. "You..."

"Tails!!" She Screamed.

"You..." Miles reached out, his hand gloveless. "You..."

"Tails!!"

"You... have to..." He lunched, seized the other him by the neck, and squeezed. "DIE!!"

Tails looked up at Miles, struggling weakly. Giving one last little gasp, a tear fell down his cheek, and onto the other fox's bare hand. Then his eyes rolled back, and it was over. Slowly standing, Miles looked down at his other self.

And frowned.

"You had to die... because I intent to live...!"

"TAILS!!"

Slowly, Miles reached out, and felt thought and existence respond in perfect harmony. "I intent to live... !!"

* * *

"Stay away from there!" Fiona jumped to the side as Sonic crashed into the table she'd been using as cover. Training her sights on the mobian approaching the locked Chamber Controls, her aim adjusted, leveling a pistol at her. Sally leapt just as a crack of lightning hit the ground at her feet, scorching the white tile.

"Someone get a hold of her!" Sonic growled through his teeth, standing back up.

"I've got 'ha!" Bunnie ran forward, metal hand seizing one of Fiona's. The two grappled, as Bunnie shifted her footing for better leverage, putting the great force of her mechanical limbs into play. Fiona scowled, falling to one knee, before pushing up hard, causing the cyborg mobian to lose her balance.

"Hardly." Fiona balled her fists and stood. "Miles has programmed me with knowledge of all your weaknesses... all your faults. All your strengths, and all your failings."

Where she stood, Fiona hissed, and from her elbows and the sides of her knees, blades popped out. Her wrists parted, and from there, a spinning gold energy disk came to life. Just as suddenly, caps on her shoulders rose up, and long silver tentacles extruded, waving tauntingly in the air.

Sonic smirked. "All right. Let's..."

His sentence was interrupted by a roar.

Slowly, he turned to its source: the Chamber at the end of the Lab. One by one, the assembled Freedom Fighters focused their eyes on it, as, with a thunderous explosion, the closed metal doors split down the middle and fell to the floor. A cloud of debris and flame and smoke billowed out of the exposed innards. Then, suddenly, a foot stepped down from the opening, hitting the ground with a heavy thud far beyond its meager size.

Fire ripped through his body.

Lightning tore through his mind.

And, from the bowels of the machine, he exploded. Falling forward, Miles blinked furiously, his vision little more than flashes of red and black. He heard voices, of seemingly random pitch and frequency, cutting his inner ears with their screeching. Roaring, he felt for the ground, and slammed his head against it, as if to bash the madness from his brain with concussive force.

Again and again, until the exercise became a rhythm, and until something strong lifted him into the air. Remembering to breathe, the vulpine took in a great gulp of air. It had no taste. At that, his mind seemed to find some focus, and instantly reorganized and reordered itself. He was Miles Prower. He was...

Whole?

"Yes. Of course..." He thought and nodded to himself. His senses were in disarray. His new body had been finished, but he had not assimilated all its abilities yet. He needed time. Blinking hard, he looked and saw the world in ultraviolet, a combination of violets and blues. Trying to focus his thoughts, he remembered what it was like to see in color, and the visible spectrum seemed to shift down and back to normal.

"Ahh..." He realized what was going on. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Fiona, weapons systems retracted, holding him up. She wasn't undamaged, but still operational. He could fix the major damage later. With a sigh, he planted his feet firmly on the ground.

And stood.

He immediately looked down at his legs. After the little head-trip he'd had re-establishing his consciousness and ego identity, it was somewhat sobering to be thrown so rudely into the present. This wasn't a child's body. It was an adult's. His injury had cost him the best, most virile year of his life, but this was some consolation. Feeling... almost giddy, he started to laugh.

"The experiment... the pain... is over," Miles said, the voice almost exactly that of Tails. With the smoke dissipating, those present could see him fully. Ostensibly, there was little difference between this new him, and the one from over a year before, except the lack of gloves or shoes. He was in the prime of his life, slightly taller than Sonic, his mane of gold fur and twin tails thick and wild. Tails had not been a child for many years, but never before had he looked like an actual adult.

"Tails!"

The laughter ended as abruptly as it began. His eyes focused on the one who had called to him. They were all there, those Freedom Fighters of his childhood. He did not want to be called that. But... realizing his situation, he made a choice. "Is there a problem, Aunt Sally?"

Her mouth moved, but no words came out.

"What's this? You break into my lab, and have nothing to say?" He shook his head and crossed his arms. "Oh. I see. Are you... surprised to see me... standing?"

"What did you do ... How...?"

"Leave." Miles interrupted her. "All of you. Sonic. Sally. Bunnie. I want nothing to do with you, and I believe that, at this point, you feel vice versa. I'll make it simple: Everything you have heard, depending on who told you, is true. The drugs, I fabricated them. The weapons, I built them. The missing Robians... experiments... Snively... well, that was more fun than anything else."

He smiled, upper lip curling just enough to reveal large canines.

"But... Tails, we... I..." Sonic took a step forward. "Why...?"

"Save your words!" Miles spat. "I've heard them all before. I did this to survive... and I would do it again. You think I would remain a cripple the rest of my life? Do you think I would be thrown aside and waste away, by you or by anyone else?! ... I gave up everything for this one thing... this one thing that matters... Survival! And to survive, one must be strong. That is all. This world of ours, there is no room in it for the weak."

He snorted, a savage grin still on his face. "You taught me that."

"You showed me that." His eyes danced from one Freedom Fighter to the next, counting out ten. Reinforcements. Sally was smarter than he had expected, and she had not underestimated him. On his own feet, comfortably and confidently, he took a few steps to the side and away from Fiona.

"I followed you, because I had no other choice..." He explained. "I died for you, because I cared for you. But that is no way to survive! That way leads only to extinction. I was fortunate to lose only half of myself, but I learned my lesson. Power separates us. I intend to use mine, fully, while I am still able. And, forever on, until the day I die, I will exercise my power to its fullest. That is the only way to live. That is the only way to survive!"

"Tails is dead. Now...!" He slammed his fist against a hidden panel in the wall nearby. Instantly, the room was bathed in a red glow, matched, for only a second, by the glow in Miles' eyes. "I suggest you leave before this place becomes a scorch mark on the planet's surface."

"TAILS!! Stop this...!"

The fox saw the very moment when Sonic' footing changed, pivoting and exploding into a blur of red white and blue. His former mentor was quick, jumping into a flying tackle. He would have been wiser to try a spin attack. He would have been wiser still not to attempt this foolishness at all. Taking a small step back, Miles leaned back just as Sonic's hands neared his shoulders. And then, at his most exposed and vulnerable, he struck.

Sonic's face twisted in pain, as the blow registered. With a soft crunch, Miles removed his fist from the hedgehog's lower abdomen, allowing his one time mentor to fall forward and into Miles' left arm. The two stood there, in silence, as the rest of the world caught up to them.

"Still have that tender spot Metal gave you, eh Sonic?" The fox looked from the limp form he was holding up, to the far side of the room. Red light pulsed dangerously, a warning to any with the sense to heed it. But still, no one moved. Sally said nothing, but her blue eyes met his onyx ones.

"Ooh?" Miles asked, surprised. "To give one's life for another... is surely... the greatest folly a sentient mind is capable of."

She said nothing.

"And to let an enemy live..." He continued, baiting her for a reaction. "Is a folly... almost as great. Would you not agree? ... Aunt Sally?"

"Tails... is dead," she finally said. "What are you going to do, Miles?"

They weren't leaving.

Slowly, he narrowed his eyes.

"Miles..." Fiona warned.

"Take him." The fox once known as Tails threw Sonic across the room with little subtlety or grace. Sally and Bunnie both moved to catch him before any further damage could be done. Once more, the two locked eyes, Alicia and Miles, a generation apart... a world removed. Then, breaking the contact, Miles turned to Fiona. She nodded, faced another nearby wall, and it slid back, revealing a hidden door and elevator.

Several Freedom Fighters raised their weapons. Miles looked over his shoulder, seemingly unconcerned. A moment later, Sally held up her arm, and motioned for them to lower their guns. The fox smiled.

"I only broke a rib... or two. He'll live. He'll ... walk. Run. Survive. ... Consider this, and other favors rendered in the past, payment for the care I received at your expense." He took the next three steps into the elevator, and then he and the faux Fiona were gone.

Sally spared one last seething glance in the direction of the Roboticizer at the end of the lab. Then, and only then, did she leave. Stepping outside, she arrived in time to see a blue and black and gold shape erupt out of the hillside underneath the once small house Tails had been given to work in.

* * *

Miles never heard the explosion.

Piloting the Tornado X, he paid it little heed, when his radar registered a small blip where his primary lab had once been. He was long gone, by that point. In the cockpit, sitting behind him, Fiona was busy examining the damage done to her right arm, where a seam in her armor was sparking silently.

"Miles?" She asked.

A moment passed before he answered. "Yes?"

"What are you going to do now?" Her voice mimicked concern perfectly. "The Roboticizer is gone. The Laboratory is no more. The Hanger is unsalvageable."

Black eyes glittered. "I have the Data. I will rebuild..."

"And after that?"

"After that?" He asked, and then answered. "After that... we make up for lost time."

He smirked. "And we make right past wrongs..."

But...

Yet...

As he flew, and felt the power of his new body - the energy and promise of a revitalized life... Miles Prower wondered. He wondered why. Why did she stay? Tails had sacrificed himself for her, for the one person he had truly loved. The thought sickened him; brought on nausea. He would have died not just for her, but for any number of others, so wasteful and pathetic was his life as Tails. He had been willing to die for others. Why? Why, if not because he had no value himself?

Yet... she was willing to do the same. She who had value. She who possibly had the most. It was foolishness. How could she? How could an adult, a willing intelligent being... how could she be willing to throw her life away? Even for Sonic.

Even for Him?

...

The air still tasted stale.


End file.
